Watch: 92-Year-Old Woman Does Incredible Thing For The First Time In 70 Years

Though she had not been in its cockpit in seven decades, World War II pilot Joy Lofthouse took to the sky earlier this month in the same model of fighter plane she flew in her 20s. Now 92, the Briton admitted that some of the intricacies of flying had been lost over the years.

Prior to takeoff, the Gloucestershire nonagenarian got nervous and admitted feeling her age; however, once in the air, the experience was unparalleled.

“It’s very hard to describe the feeling,” she said. “It almost makes one feel young again.”

In 1945, Lofthouse was part of the all-female Air Transport Auxiliary responsible for flying Spitfires between war zones and factories. She was one of just 164 women permitted to pilot the aircraft during World War II.

Her recent flight was coordinated to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of the war’s European theater.

“It’s incredible to be in a Spitfire again after so long,” she said. “I’m so lucky to be able to fly it again.”

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Though the aircraft was largely the same as she remembered it after more than 70 years, she noted that one addition made her latest flight more engaging.

“We had no radio,” she said of her experience during World War II, “and once you took off, it was complete silence. That was the big difference today – there was someone talking all the time.”

After so many years, Lofthouse concluded that she has not found any activity that can compare to piloting a Spitfire. She called it “the nearest thing to having wings of your own and flying.”

Are you glad she got one more opportunity to take off in a Spitfire? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.